AM Best has affirmed a financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and a long-term issuer credit rating of “a” (Excellent) of Utah-domiciled NiSource Insurance Corporation (NICI). The outlook assigned to these credit ratings is stable. NICI is a single parent captive owned by US utilities company, NiSource, covering a broad range of risks including property, workers’ compensation, liabilities, medical stop-loss and life insurance for the parent company and its affiliates. The ratings reflect NICI’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as “very strong”, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. According to AM Best, NICI maintains the strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s capital adequacy ratio. The balance sheet assessment also considers the company’s strong liquidity measures, conservative investment philosophy and favourable loss reserve development. The combined and operating ratios have outperformed the industry averages due to a low underwriting expense structure and loss ratios trending positively. The stable outlooks for NICI reflect the company’s sustained profitability, adherence to maintaining capital at the appropriate risk-adjusted levels and inherent advantages as a single-parent captive with immediate access to the business and resources of its ultimate parent.
